Origin and Habitat: San Luis Potosi, Mexico. (Villar, Tampico, Guadalcazar) Has a fairly large extent of occurrence (400 km²) Altitude: About 1,800 m over sea level.Habitat and Ecology: grows in semi-desert on calcareous soil among pinion and juniper trees, in open meadows or in warm steppes.

Notes: Gymnocactus (Turbinicarpus) knuthianus seems to be a transitional species between the lophophoroides aggregate of the "true" Turbinicarpus species, via Turbinicarpus laui, and the species of the saueri aggregate of the Gymnocactus species.

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Cultivation and Propagation: It’s a fairly easy species to cultivate and relatively fast growing. Need a very well drained soil. Requires strong sun to part sun to develop good spinal growth and waterings should be rather infrequent to keep the plant compact and not to become excessively elongated and unnatural in appearance. Watering should be rather infrequent, but abundant, so that the soil becomes completely soaked, but let dry weel between watering as it’s quite prone to rot, especially after the first flowering. The fact that the plant retracts into the soil, and assumes a grey-green colouring between waterings, is perfectly natural and doesn’t cause any damage. Keep dry in winter or when night temperatures remain below 10° C. It is hardy to -4°C for a short period. Assure a good ventilation. Propagation: It can be reproduced both by seeds and cuttings. Young seedlings are tiny and they need several years to reach adult size, and require very careful watering.